Goblins
Natives of the southern lands of Ebisius, the goblins are one of the oldest spicies in the continent, with the exception of the Bears. The common perception of goblins by the other races is one of barbarous savages, ekking out a miserable existance in caves, away from the light, skulking in the dark corners of the world. The reality however is that the goblins have developed quite possibly the most stable society ever found in Ebisius. If they knew of the grand goblin city located deep beneath their feet, the other races may change their perception of the 'primitive' goblins, who have endured on the planet far longer than the majority of other, so called 'civilized' races. The majority of the Goblin race lives underground in vast caverns. The ones seen by other races on the surface are outrunners and outcasts, those who choose to live on the surface or who have found profit in harvesting 'surface food'. No-one knows the true extent of the underground Goblin realm, not even the goblins themselves. Their society is decentralised to the point of a census or other similar population checking is completely alien to them. The best tunnelers on ( or under) the planet. It is said that each goblin adds another 500ft of tunnel to the realm. If this is taken as truth, and one considers the number or goblins and possible age of the spicies, it is a sobering thought to ponder the full reach of their subterranean dominion. Origins No compemporary scholar is clear as to when the goblins first arrived in Ebsius, the earliest recorded histories date well back to the last ice age, and depicts goblin tribes in battle against bears. The city of Craedac The city of Craedac is the capital of all the goblin tribes, in their language it is translated as 'First Home'. It is said to extend for miles underground and to house as many goblins as there are stars in the sky. Only 3 outsiders have seen the city, the three ambassadors sent by the Tsardom of Grondor after the fall of the Hedgehog Hegemony to negotiate a truce with the goblins upon the arrival of the Badgers in Ebisius. To the goblins the city is the heart of their race. It houses treasures that have not seen the surface in over 10, 000 years. It is claimed that within Craedac lies the greatest concentration of wealth on the planet and there is much evidence to support this claim. Stolen, bartered, traded or taken as spoils from countless battles, the treasures of a dozen empires lie within its tunnels. The city is located entirely underground, deep within the crust, so close to the mantle that heat from the molten churning interior diffuses into the tunnels. A wide variety of plants, fungi and foodstuffs are cultivated deep within the caverns to support the goblin populations. Miles upon miles of caverns are cultivated like fields of grain on the surface. Where the mantle pierces the crust, molten rivers of magma flow through the caves, producing immense light and heat that is used by extreme plants. It is here that the majority of the goblin race is located, deep within the planet. Nearly the entirety of the goblin race has never seen the sky. Entrances to the city are unknown to outsiders from other races. Even the bears, who are the oldest race on the planet have never found it. This has led some bear scholars to believe that the city predates even their civilization, though little evidence exists to support the theory either way. The Goblin Tribes The goblins do not exist as a single, homogenous nation as other races do, but this does not make them any less unified. The goblin race is separated into thousands of tribes or 'Tells' each tell mataining relations with hundreds of others. The consequence is an ever shifting politcal dynamic with larger tells being preyed upon by confederations of smaller ones who then in turn, through their sucess become preyed upon. The phrase 'the only constant is change' is apt to goblin society. Religion Despite the fragmentation of Goblin society all the tribes share a common belief system. They believe in the protector, the master and father of the Goblin race, who keeps them safe from outside harm and maintains the order of the cosmos. Within the heart of Craedac is a temple that is colosal beyond measure, within the temple lies the hand of the creator, with which he shielded the first goblins from harm. The Evocation of Doom / The Cataclysm The Evocation of Doom was particularly devastating on the Goblin race since the shockwaves from the blast carried underground much more efficently than they did on the surface. Called the Cataclysm in their histories, hundreds of miles of tunnels collapsed and many more flooded with magma from the planet's upheaval. Thousands of lives and entire sections of tunnel were crushed beneath millions of tonnes of rock. Craedac was the worst hit, sections of cavern roof miles long fell upon the buildings below, entire seams slipped and tumbled into the abyss, the Temple at the heart of the city was miraculously spared the destruction. This was not the worst however, daemons from the surface began to make their way into the tunnels of the goblin nation, seemingly drawn towards Craedac. The goblin tells, in a rare show of unification, appointed the High Priest Altoc to aid them against the daemons. Thus began the bloodiest war in goblin history. The goblins, expert in tunnel warfare fought the daemons wherever they appeared. The goblin tunnel network quickly became fortified, barricades were set up at intersections, fortresses were constructed in the path of the invaders. The automony of the goblin tells meant that the nation was fighting almost a grand guerilla war, each tell making striking indepentently against the daemons, with only general instructions coming from the High Priest in Craedac. Reports of tunnels sealed by the corpses of goblins and daemons were not uncommon and the fighting descended into a meatgrinder that lasted for decades, indeed even after the Beaver host from the Tsardom of Grondor destroyed the portal and ended the main daemon invasion, the war in the goblin tunnels continued for years. The war eventually came out in favour of the goblins, who repelled the daemons from their network. The goblin nation however, was significantly crippled. Much of its tunnel network was soaked in blood, many passages were blocked and others unusable, but the goblin nation survived. Category:Races